Threat of military action against Iraq
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 26 September 2002 (30th Sitting) (see Doc. 9572, report of the Political Affairs Committee, rapporteur: Mr Martínez Casañ). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26 September 2002 (30th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
1. The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly notes with satisfaction Iraq’s acceptance of the unconditional return of the United Nations disarmament inspectors, in accordance with Security Council
Resolution 1284 (1999). This is an essential first step towards ensuring that Iraq no longer possesses weapons of mass destruction. The Assembly notes, however, that Iraq has reneged on its commitments on several occasions in the past and expresses reservations about the intention of the Iraqi authorities to honour their promises.
2. The international community must continue to demand that the Iraqi authorities comply in full with the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions concerning the prohibition of Iraqi programmes to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. The United Nations inspectors and disarmament experts must be permitted to resume their on-site work immediately, with unlimited access and with guarantees, in order to be able to report to the Security Council on whether or not Iraq has complied with these resolutions.
3. The Assembly emphasises its conviction that any armed conflict must be avoided until this report has been examined by the Security Council. The Assembly is deeply concerned at the rift that could open up between the West and the Islamic world in the event of an armed conflict. In this respect, the Assembly welcomes the stance taken by the Arab countries, which have put pressure on the Iraqi authorities to accede to the United Nation’s demands.
4. Accordingly, the Assembly disapproves that the United States is indicating a willingness to move towards armed conflict without a mandate from the Security Council. Such an attitude is not in conformity with either the principles of international law or the objectives of the Council of Europe, to which, as an Observer state, the United States is expected to subscribe. The Assembly encourages the continued efforts by members of the Security Council to secure the adoption of a new resolution on Iraq.
5. In the absence of explicit approval by the Security Council, any unilateral action by the United States, even supported by other countries, would be likely to destabilise peace severely and deal a severe blow to the authority of the United Nations. A unilateral approach could also lead to divisions within the democratic countries and compromise the international community’s cohesion in the fight against terrorism.
6. The Assembly calls on:
the Baghdad authorities:
a to match their promises with action by co-operating fully with the United Nations inspectors and disarmament experts so that they can carry out their work, and by conforming to the relevant Security Council resolutions, in particular the above-mentioned
Resolution 1284;
b to publicly condemn terrorism and to refrain from any kind of action that might cast doubt on Iraq’s claim not to be involved in terrorism;
all Council of Europe member states, observers and special guests to step up their efforts to avoid a new war in Iraq and to find a solution to the Iraqi problem in accordance with the United Nations’ principles and through its mechanisms, including, if necessary, by adopting a new Security Council resolution. At the same time, it calls upon states to support mediation efforts aimed at finding a peaceful solution, particularly those by the Secretary General of the United Nations;
the members of the United Nations Security Council to resort to military intervention only after having exhausted all other approaches, and only if a flagrant violation of the United Nations’ resolutions is confirmed by the inspectors’ future report;
all Council of Europe member states to refrain from supporting any action not covered by a mandate of the United Nations Security Council.
